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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — for sport
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a match
  7. shower — rain
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. bass — the fish
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. fork — in a road
  12. field — a subject
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. degree — an amount
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. degree — from a university
  18. stem — to come from
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. bass — low music
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. degree — temperature
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — to wash

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com